West Coast Eagles Season 2025 Preview
Reflecting on the Eagles last season, and setting this years expectations
2025 Ladder Position: 13th (4 wins, 7 losses, 62.9%)
2024 Best & Fairest: Ella Roberts
Senior Coach: Daisy Pearce
Optimism was high at West Coast with the signing of AFLW legend Daisy Pearce as their new coach, and her influence delivered the Eagles their best season yet. The team finished with four wins, double their previous best, with a newfound competitiveness and willingness to defend crucial in turning the club’s fortunes around. Several young stars continued to shine, none more so than young star and eventual All-Australian Ella Roberts, who took to her full-time midfield role with aplomb.
The Game Plan
“There's no secret sauce that I'm bringing. It's just trying to impart some of my experiences I've had and the rest is hard work and people being passionate about what they do." – Daisy Pearce, August 2024
There were high hopes – and considerable pressure – for Daisy Pearce when she arrived at the Eagles. The club had never won more than two games in a season, and had struggled to build a football identity, so for Pearce establishing good fundamentals was crucial. With a solid young core to work with, the Eagles sort to move the ball quickly, creating forward momentum through long kicking. As such the Eagles conceded less handballs than any other team (81.1 per game) and less disposals (216.6) than any team other than premiers North Melbourne. This was particularly on display in their early season wins, where their intensity and quicker ball movement caught opponents off guard to score goals over the back of defensive zones (with Kellie Gibson’s match winner against Richmond a great example). Hard-working runners were important to this game-style, with club stalwart Emma Swanson returning to a half-back role and veteran recruit Alison Drennan experienced heads willing to work into space as outlet options or run and carry the ball to progress field position.
An important lesson Pearce was able to impart on the Eagles was how to improve their ability to defend opposition ball movement. Their young defence, which includes Season 2025 co-captain Charlotte Thomas and rising stars Zoe Wakfer and Beth Schilling, continued to develop as a defensive unit, and as such were able to stifle lower ranked teams. A couple of blowouts against finalists Hawthorn and Brisbane, and a disappointing final round walloping by Sydney, offset a lot of their defensive improvements from a statistical perspective, however their close losses to finalists Port Adelaide and Essendon will give fans hope that further development of their gameplan will lead to fewer big margin losses.
🔊🔊🔊 Check out our West Coast Eagles 2025 Preview Episode wherever you get your podcasts to listen to our interview with Emma Swanson! 🔊🔊🔊
Squad Summary
Preseason movements
IN:
Lucia Painter (2024 National Draft, pick #7)
Charlotte Riggs (2024 National Draft, pick #24)
Lucy Boyd (2024 National Draft, pick #53)
Kayla Dalgleish (2024 National Draft, pick #57)
Liz McGrath (trade – North Melbourne)
OUT:
Octavia Di Donato (delisted)
Emily Elkington (delisted)
Sasha Goronova (delisted)
Jayme Harken (delisted)
Tess Lyons (delisted)
Matilda Sergeant (delisted)
Verity Simmons (delisted)
Mackenzie Webb (delisted
Evie Gooch (retired)
Jess Hosking (inactive)
2025 Statistics
Average age (as of 31 Dec 2024): 22.8 (18th oldest)
Average number of games played: 26.7 (15th most experienced)
The Eagles boast a young and inexperienced list, so their rapid improvement in 2024 would please Daisy Pearce and give hope for more in future. The list has only three players over thirty, Alison Drennan (34), Emma Swanson (30), and the returning Dana Hooker (34), who all provide experience and run through the middle of the ground. The Eagles’ past two All-Australians, Charlotte Thomas and Ella Roberts, are both only 21, and will continue to lead a young group which through time and connection has the ability to become a very strong football team.
Know someone else who would get around Free Kick’s content? Share this post with them from the link below!
2025 Preview
The Best Case Scenario
After the first six games, the Eagles were 4-2 and finals weren’t out of the question. While their form tailed off, the improvement and development were clear for all to see. Ella Roberts continues to be one of the competition's best young talents, and with several other youngsters ready to take the next step, West Coast will be hoping Daisy Pearce can work her magic to keep the Eagles heading towards a first ever finals berth.
On the Other Hand…
They lost their last five matches by an average of 36 points, undoing a lot of the exceptional early work of the season. Even if their defensive efforts and ball movement was greatly improved in recent seasons, they remained easy to score against as their young squad tired across the season. Inconsistency is common in young sides, but the consistency with which they gave up goals was worrying, and preventing a reversion to just a couple of wins for the season will be important to avoid.
Player Preview: The Star
Ella Roberts was always expected to do great things, but her transition into a fully-fledged AFLW midfielder put her immediately into the upper reaches of the competition’s stars. Her all-round game resulted in team high contested possessions (12.2 per game) and 2nd at the Eagles for tackles (5.5 per game), while her spread and strength overhead also meant she led the Eagles for marks (4.5 per game). Having started her career as a forward, her attacking craft also resulted in her taking the second most marks inside 50 for the Eagles (0.8 per game), with her contested marking a feature (1.2 per game, double the next best Eagle). The Eagles have a star they can build around, and her versatility means they can use her wherever needed.
Player Preview: The Breakout
Settling in alongside Charlotte Thomas in defence, Beth Schilling came on in leaps and bounds in 2024. Putting aside early career injuries, Schilling became another bedrock in a developing backline, with her intercept work and positioning catching the eye. After a Rising Star nomination and 10 more games in Season 9, Schilling looks set to become part of one of the league's best defensive duos in 2025.
Enjoying this read? Subscribe to receive all Free Kick’s articles straight to your inbox!
2025 Best 21
Front of Mind
“Can they shed their easy-beat reputation?”
Despite the huge gains made in the first half of the season, the last month of football was disappointing for West Coast, conceding big margins and looking less assured against more competitive teams. Likely to draw a somewhat tougher fixture in 2025, it will be interesting to see if the Daisy Pearce-led changes can become a mainstay in their game and make them competitive for longer. They will be hoping to at least equal their 2024 wins tally, but a reversion to their usual 1-2 wins per season would be bitterly disappointing after such optimism from 2024.
Setting the Bar
Not regressing. The club simply has to avoid falling back down the ladder and struggling to win games, with 4 wins a realistic target to at least equal their 2024 gains. If they can play like they did in the first 6 games all seasons, pushing for finals isn’t out of the question, but as long as they remain competitive and tick off wins against teams around them, they will back in the squad for long term improvement.
At the End of the Day
A rollicking first month under Daisy Pearce showcased a new West Coast team with competitive edge, though late season fadeouts undid some of that goodwill. Brimming with young talent and stars ready to take the competition by storm, the upcoming season will be a test of whether Pearce’s game style and teachings have held as the Eagles search to break their finals drought.
Keen for more?
Follow Free Kick wherever you get your podcasts, and have a listen to our West Coast Eagles Preview Episode for our chat with Emma Swanson!
Stay tuned for our next Club Preview article by subscribing to our Substack
Let us know what you think! We’d love to hear from you
Artwork commissioned and supplied by the Free Kick gang in a “10 seconds to look at the logo 90 seconds to paint it” challenge from mid-2025